[Poll] Zorin Cloud services for Pro users

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I have been having a blast with Zorin OS 16 and I will probably roll with it until the 20.04 LTS nature of it holds me back, so great job in the Core edition to the Zorin Team.

But when it comes to switching to Zorin OS Pro... Everyone who knows Linux and buys Pro either does it for the comfyness or to support the devs.
This is great, the freedom to decide how much you value your OS, and if you believe the OS is worth it, you either contribute to it or put money on it. Beautiful mindset, almost like elementary OS does, the Free as in Freedom ideal instead of being forced to pay/put up with unwanted features like telemetry.

Great philosophy in my end and all...
Anyone can easily install the layouts and everyone here acknowledges it anyways: I have been talking in other forums and good points were made, like:

They sell a "pro" version that comes with more themes? And "Professional-grade creative suite of apps" (aka gimp, blender, etc.)? Why would anyone buy this?
Why not just be honest and sell the support on it's own? And maybe have a "donation" edition that is pay what you want?
This way, it just looks like a scam. They should just be honest. If they were honest about it, I might be inclined to recommend this.
And the most striking one which I partially agree with:
But as it stands, it's an insult and just makes them look unprofessional and scammy
It is slightly misleading for some people, you might mislead new users to think these creative suites are exclusive to some extent

I don't think you're scamming anyone as right below you just offer the Core edition without the themes or conveniences pre-installed, so hence concludes my introductory essay to the real point of this topic:

Offering Cloud services to Pro users

One killer deal can be to offer stuff like iCloud and Microsoft already do, albeit they charge separately for more space which might be a selling point for you (or not)
I'll be suggesting the ones that wouldn't really cost thousands on dollars on your end and you guys tell me if it may be viable:

Zorin Sync

Sync your configuration files in the cloud.
VSCode already does that so, in my end, it's not a "please do it ASAP" feature request, but I bet some folks would like to sync their settings between their desktops and their laptops.

Zorin Mail

Maybe? There's tons of FOSS mail implementations, if you keep the Zorin aesthetic from the forums some people will just use it because it looks good. Also, you may want to advertise it as private to get more advertising going for you guys.
Maybe keep "zorin" for yourselves and offer users another domain name like mail.zorin.com, by the way

And I'd suggest a Zorin Cloud, but maybe that requires just too much bandwidth and storage for you.

Anyways, that's all because it is true that selling Pro for a bunch of bucks is seen as a donation here (I do think that too!) but a ripoff to some eyes outside of the forums. I might consider buying Pro if that means I get cloud services integrated with my OS in a blink, but depends on the price tag, though... I'm assuming a configuration sync wouldn't be too costly, would it?

Would this incline you to buy Pro?

  • I would still use Core
  • I would buy Pro
  • I always had Pro
0 voters
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That is a nice idea and it would be even more meaningful to buy the pro edition.

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I really like this O.P.
I cannot express how well worded I find it to be.
And suggesting a good strong viable alternative, as well.

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I could be wrong reading the O.P., but I gather the intent of the suggestion is to increase Zorin OS productivity, not ruin it.

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Great idea!
But I still have some more years to go before retiring.
I cannot be hired for sure.

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I can never understand how ANYONE can consider the donation (US dollars, Canadian, Euros...etc) as a BUNCH?

Not when you have spend 100s on M$, Apple, Lunch, a Movie, a date, Beer, etc...

This is rehashed to the point of absurd! You aren't strong-armed like M$ to update your system to use the latest and greatest from them. If you want something for free you have a choice. If you want to listen to a album you must purchase it unless you think people should just give you everything for free. Work a job then and do it for nothing that's the same thinking pattern.

ohhh they owe you

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Yup. But sadly, though, Zorin OS itself needs more work, specially when GNOME "drops support for theming" with libadwaita.
It's just a suggestion for the future. I bet someone less tech savvy somewhere felt "scammed" when they found out the professional creative suite could be downloaded manually.

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The Pro creative suite can be downloaded manually. It is composed of Free Open source software.
Which makes perspectives on this interesting. I can see jorgi's point that some may feel scammed.
But I can also see why it is essential for Zorin OS to stick to FOSS: People really would be getting scammed if a Linux Distro stuck to Proprietary Software.
To me, this inclusion speaks of the open and honest nature of Zorin OS, certainly not to a scam. But how this information is presented makes a difference in how people perceive it.

On this forum, the nature of Pro as a donation and to support the Development of Zorin OS is regularly discussed; and the users reasons for choosing Pro.
Perhaps those off-site should do their homework instead of jumping to conclusions and assumptions.
https://forum.zorin.com/t/poll-reason-for-choosing-zorin-pro/11720/36

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Or even worse someone that as you put it "someone less tech savvy" attempted to install manually but couldn't because they didn't know how and trusted someone else to help and screwed their computer up.

Your beating a dead horse

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The current Poll results are interesting. As it is, the majority leans heavily toward support for the current system.

From a psychological standpoint, there is a possibility of a Skewed Poll Result.
This question is being asked on a forum largely populated by Zorin OS Users and Supporters.
Given that they have already chosen Zorin OS and many have chosen to Support Development, they already had their reasons for doing so prior to this question. The verbiage of the question is unlikely to change their mind.

This actually detracts from the suggestions you offered as possible future direction for Zorin OS. Given the poll results, it would appear that these suggestions are not wanted or are not viable.
This may not be the case.
It may be that the poll itself sets users on the defensive.

I would recommend closing out the poll and letting the topic ride on the merit of its ideas, instead.
Nonetheless, the results do show that here; Users are happy to support Zorin OS for the value it already gives them, with an excellent operating system, an opener into Linux as a whole and Fine Development.

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There is a reason why I'm replying you from my Zorin OS desktop and have Zorin on my laptop too. But the thing is: the thought process from the people who might see Zorin as a scam (not me, I think Zorin OS Pro conveniences are great) is that the features can be also gotten for free. The only divide between Core and Pro users are really the layouts in Zorin Appearances, the backgrounds and the fact you supported the developers.

Philosophically that's for sure, but this idea about software freedom is nowhere to be seen in the Pro page. That is probably why some people outside to Zorin criticised the Pro edition as a whole.
But honestly, if people don't want cloud sync features or any of that jazz then they can throw the idea at the bin or just reconsider it way later in the future.

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Sure. Wasn't asking them to strictly copycat Windows or Mac, just add some quality cloud features present in other software really.

They are literally selling themselves as the replacement for mac and Windows, and offering close experiences to those... But anyways, that was not my point either...

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I think Harveys wording is spot on, actually.

Let's look closely at the Zorin Website wording:

The alternative to Windows and macOS designed to make your computer faster, more powerful, secure, and privacy-respecting.

Alternative to, not replacement.

The Zorin Appearance app lets you change the desktop layout to feel like the environment you're familiar with, whether it's Windows, macOS, or Linux.

A familiar environment - so users feel comfortable. This does not mean a Windows Replacement, either. It means, a familiar environment on Linux.

You mentioned hearing what other people say, in other places. I think it makes sense that those words would be in your head. That is the nature of influence and how people influence how others think.
However, from the horses mouth, we see that Zorin OS is not selling itself as a replacement for Windows that emulates Windows, but as an alternative to Windows or Mac OS by providing a more familiar environment.
Even suggesting Wine as a compatibility layer to get some of those needed Windows apps.

You can get started and begin using Zorin OS without having to learn all about Linux.
This does not mean that a person won't ever have to learn. There's always a learning curve. But getting started without that pressure and stress is a pretty helpful and big deal.

Once started, once established, the learning can gradually take place as the user has more computing needs that need to be addressed. Not all at once and not at the beginning.
This is akin to On-the-job-training as opposed to taking a Crash Course to get the job.

Comparing Harveys rather short sentences to these long paragraphs, I am sure you can see that his description is accurate. Clearly, there is no Linux Distribution to be found that can be like Windows because they are two very different OS's.
But for many, Zorin OS is a Good Alternative that eases that transition by not having to learn everything just to get started.

While that may not have been your point... The misconception was raised and needed to be addressed.
Hopefully this is helpful and clarifying rather than defensive.

I like your suggestions in the O.P. They seem tuned to what we consider a Pro Version for a Working Environment.
I think aravisian@zorin-os.com has a nice ring to it. (EDIT: For all you ladies out there... that email address does not actually exist, so don't bother...)
And many gladly pay for Cloud storage.

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This is deviating from the main topic, as it wasn't my point: everyone has an opinion on this matter and I never said it was a replacement, I only pointed that out in this post as an example of Zorin not trying to be this unique niche OS (which is a good thing!)

Exactly! Something to get some new people in, something new to thank Pro users.
I thought it was a win-win but if people don't want it then Zorin Group should focus on seeing what to do with GNOME after libadwaita restricts everything

My proposal but this is off-topic, don't reply to this / point me to another thread

I'd propose a small fork to just bugfix stuff within current GNOME's version retaining extensions, as porting them to KDE/Cinnamon/MATE seems more of a headache

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I addressed this above in a post. I think that the nature of the Poll may skew the results.

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